Hood latch



Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE HOOD LATCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 5,1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE 2,781,214

HOOD LATCH Filed Oct. 5, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 u 30 1%.? :f 43 L35INVENTOR 32 m Maud 34 57 D I Q 53 \p' i BY y ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 A.CLAUD-MANTLE HOOD LATCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 5, 1953 ATTOR NEYSA. CLAUD-MANTLE Feb.1f2,1957

HOOD LATCH 5 Sheets-Sheet 4' Filed Oct. 5, 1953 INVENTOR Chad, llafl WBY ML F Bum- ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1957 A. CLAUD-MANTLE 2,731,214

, HQOD LATCH Filed Oct. 5. 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 1.\' V ENTOR Lima;@Qd-hw ATTORNEYfi United States Patent C HOOD LATCH Arthur Gland-Mantle,Trumbull, Conn., assignor to The Bassick Company, Bridgeport, Cnn., acorporation of Connecticut Application October 5, 1953, Serial No.384,120

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-11) usually employed a lifting spring that lifts thelid to a certain extent when the primary latching means is released, andthere is also employed a safety catch which prevents the lid from beinglifted or raised to an undesirable extent, as by the action of the windwhen the vehicle is in movement.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form ofhood latch that is manually releasable by the service station attendantfrom a point within or associated with the grille portion at the forwardend of the hood.

Another object is to provide a form of hood latch involving a novelarrangement or assembly of primary latch and secondary or safety latch.

A further object is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive latchconstruction having an actuating and control device easily accessiblefor manual manipulation by the service station attendant.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary front elevation of the hood portion of anautomobile equipped with a latch embodying the invention;

Fif. 2 is a top plan view partly in section of the hood shown in Fig. 1,with parts broken away to show the latch mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the latch shown in Fig. 2, the grille ofthe automobile being shown by broken lines;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the latch looking from the right of Fig.l, the grille being shown by broken lines;

Fig. 5 is a view of the latch with the parts in the latched positionlooking from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 4;

' Fig. 6 is a section taken longitudinally of the hood on the line 6-6of Fig. 3;

the mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a detail showing another position of certain parts illustratedin Fig. 9; and 'Fig. l0 is a view from below of the parts shown in Fig.9.

In the form selected for illustration, the latch is of the general typepreviously mentioned, comprising a keeper in the form of a post orplunger carried by an upper plate fixed within the forward end portionof the lid, the keeper plunger having a generally conical head at itslower end adapted to be extended through an aperture or throat of alower plate carried by the fixed part of the hood, the lower platehaving pivoted thereto at its lower face a swinging latch lever adaptedto engage the upper face of the keeper head to hold the lid in theclosed position, the swinging lever being acted upon by a spring whichurges it toward the latching position, and the lever being man uallyoperable by actuation of a tab or manipulating portion at the free endof the lever accessible in an opening provided in the grille whichextends across the lower part of the hood. This latch has a liftingspring of known structure and arrangement associated with the keeper,this spring being a helical spring around the keeper, having its lowerend in engagement with a cup member which in the latched position of thehood engages the upper face of the lower plate around the latch throator aperture in that plate.

The upper and lower plates are adapted to be carried by transversemounting plates supported in any preferred.

way in the upper and lower hood members.

As a part of the latch, there is a safety catch which, in this form, isconstituted by a spring-pressed lever mounted upon the lower plate andcontrolled in the manner hereinafter described, this lever being adaptedto prevent upward swinging of the lid by wind action when the vehicle isin motion, in case the parts of the primary latch are not properlyinterengaged.

In the drawings, the hood lid is indicated at 20, the lower fixed partof the engine enclosure at 21, the upper plate at 22, the transversefixed support for the upper plate .at 23, the lower plate at 24, thetransverse fixed support for the lower plate at 25, the keeper at26, thelifting spring at 27, the lifting spring cup at 28, the latchingaperture or throat of the lower plate at 29, the latching lever at 30,the pivot mounting the latching lever on the lower plate at 31, and themanipulating tab of the operating lever at 32. In the form shown, agrille 33 is provided at the lower forward part of the engineenclovertical plane and being under the control of the latching lever inthe manner hereinafter described.

The keeper 26 in this form is one having a bolt-like shank at the lowerend of which is a conical head 37. The keeper-receiving aperture iselongated longitudinally of the hood so as to permit some relativeforward and rearward movement of the lid and hood body when the lid isin the operative position, the lower plate having two depending andcontinuous flanges, each flange extending along one side of theelongated aperture so as to provide a skirt which prevents the keeperhead from extending under the plate and becoming jammed therewith. Thelatching lever is pivoted to the plate adjacent one end of the apertureand extends along one side of the aperture (the left side as viewed inFig. 2), and the lever is provided with a lug 38 normally projectedthrough the flange or skirt structure 39 between the ends of theaperture, said lug'being supported so that it can overlie the keeperheadin any position of the head along the length of the aperture.

' As shown in Fig. 2, a portion of the latch lever extends laterallyfrom the left side of the latch plates, with a manipulating portionextended somewhat forwardly, and the safety catch lever 36 is locatedlaterally of the plates and is adapted to co-act in the mannerhereinafter described 7 plate is provided with a depending flange 45 themiddle part of which is aperture'cl andbent outwardly to provide lugs46. These lugs are used in pivoting the safety lever by means of a pivotpin 47 which passes through these" lugs and through a part of the safetylever 36 whichlis confined between them, as best shown in Fig. .10. The

lower end portion of the safetylever, which leverf'is made of, sheetmetal, is'formed tofpr'ovide'a U-s'haped'c'ross sectiori that presentsinturnedside lugs48 which are placed between the lugs 46, and the pin'47 passes throughholes in-the four lugs. A helical spring 49 isdisposed about the pin 47 and has one terminal bearingagainstlthe'flange of the latch plate and the other terminal'bearing'ag'ainst the .U-shapedflower part 5016f the safety lever. Thisspring ur es the safety lever toward the part '40 of the upper latchplate 22 for a purpose whichwill hereinafter appear. The's'afety lever36 has its upper end portion formed as ajhoolc -1 made of a singlethickness-of metal. The lower extremity of'the lever is widened toprovide the U-shaped portion 50, previously :mentioned,; used forpivoting purposes, and somewhat abovethe portion 50 the lever has anarrower U-shaped cross section, as indicated at ,52, presentingone sidewall which is in the same plane a as the hook portion 51 andanother-side wall that is in line with one of the lugs 48.. The sidewall which is'in line with the hook 51, has a gently rounded camrningedge 53 adapted to engage the part 40.

As will be seen from Fig. 9, the lower plate is apertured at 54 adjacentits left-hand edge to provide anopening through which the .latch leverprojects, the arrangement being such that a portion 55 of the latchlever projects laterally somewhat from the side of the latch plate in alocation where thispart of the lever can engage the part '52 of thesafety lever, this particular part of the safety 'lever being somewhatbelow the camming edge 53.. The part .55 of the lach lever is intheplane of the lever body, aslbest shown in Figs. '7 and 8, but apart56 of the lever, which forms acontinuation of .the part 55, is 'bentdownwardly, this part being disposed toward the forward edge of thelatch plate. From this part 56 the lever is bent to ,form a forwardlyextending part 57 arranged ina generally verticalplane, this part beingbent laterally to form the tab'orfingerpiece 32; g

The side of the tipperplate 22 which is disposed toward the'safetyeatehis provided with the part 49 to cooperate the safety member,and this part is in this form'con- V stituted by adepcnding fiangelikemember integral with the plate and providing an aperture 59 in-whieh the,h O

portionofthe safety member can be received; Theaperture preferably takesthe form of a rectangular opening occupying onlya part of the width ofthegfiange. The 1 flange fitllis at a slightinclination'to' a verticalplane directed longitudinally of the hood so that the flange 'has' aninward and upward taper (Figlj). At the lower edge of-the flange,which-is only slightly below the aperture 59, the flange has an inturnedextremity fiflst'rengthening the loweredge of the flange, and,*as shownin:.Fig. 7 this 55 which confronts and is in close proximity to "a partof the body 52 of the safety catch, and this edge'portion 55?. inthe'region adjacent the safety catch body is curved V in plan, as showninFig. 'to present a camming edge,

.theaarrangement" being such that the spring of the safety catchholds'it against the'edge portion 55 movemcntof thellatch lever from thelatchediposition to the'unlatched 7 position resulting in the shift ofthe safety hook in a lat- 4. v eralIy outward direction. Fig. 9 showshow the safety catch is shifted by this movement of'the latch lever.When the tab of the lever is released, the latch lever and the safetycatch will be returned to their initial positions by their respectivesprings.

When the latch is in the latched position, as shown in Fig. 7, the lowerpart of theflange 4i) abuts against the safety catch so as to hold thecatch in the position shown in that view.

.tendant takes hold of thetab or finger-piece 32-and piills it forwardlyso as to move the latching lever to therelease position. The lid isthenlifted by the spring 27, the

latch lever,'and thus the lid .is raisedto a certain. extent. Thelatch'lever being held by one hand of the attendant in a fully :releasedposition, the other hand of theattendant can be employed to lift the lidto a fully raised position. v 'In this ope'ratidn of releasing thelidthe safety catch is swung forwardly by its engagement with thecainming portion of the latching lever, and thus the safety catch doesnot interfere with the full raising of the lid. If, however, for anyreason the safety e'atch engages the upper plate to hold the lid in thesafety position, the movement of the latching lever can herepeated toshift the safety catch into a position allowing ffull raising of thelid. Owing to the concealment of the safety catch by the adjacent partsof the car, the safety catch cannot be shifted directly by manualmanipulation in a convenient manner, but it may be shifted easily andconveniently by movement of the latching lever in a releasing.direction. 7 p

When the lid is fully released and has been raised to a substantialextent, the safety catch will be held byits spring in anapproximately'vertical position, as shown, for example, in Fig. 8. Thelower end of the flange 40 will, therefore, be above an inclined surface61' ,at the upper end of the safety catch. Therefore when the .hood isagain lowered, the flange 40 will engage the surface 61 in a manner tocam the hook ,part of the catch in a forward direction. This permitstheflange 40 to pass the hook part of thecatch, and the curved cammingedge 53 of the catch willengage the flange 40 in a manner to hold thecatch in the position shown in Fig. 7, which is the normal latchedposition of themechapism. Then when the latch is released by moving'thelatch lever to the keeper-releasing position, the lever will be moved toa position in which it holds the safety catch in position by engagementof the lever edge portion 55 with the body of the safety catch, as shown-in Fig. 94.

lever. .sWiJlgsLin ahorizontalplane and has a partf5pr0 truding from itsmounting plate, this partahavingaacljacent the side margin of themounting plate acamming. edge, This amming edge ,is engaged by avertically swinging spring-pressed safety catch member. pivotedgbe-L lowthe plane of the mountingplatebody, the plane 'I'of 'swingg beingtransverse :to 'thefelongated ;latch;-aperture, the arrangement beingsuch that, on forward pull .of .themanipulating.portion of the latchlever the safcty catch member is engagedfbetween-jits lower pivotednendjand its upper' free end and the :upper freeiend of the.

catch member swung awayfromthe'upper mounting Plate :of the latch. ASwill be noted from Fig. 9, for example, 7 'ztheplane of' swing of thecatch nziemherin formpin ".t'eri'sects the latching lug 38 when :theparts are his the position shown.

The hood latch, as herein described,- is 'an effective "and satisfactoryonefor alligator hoods in cases where it is desirable to have thehoodlidreleafiblea-byithe service station attendant by manual manipulation;

When the hood lid is tobe released, the service at a lever, operable bythe attendannserves to latch and release the keeper in an effectivemanner. The safety catch arrangement is also of an improvedconstruction. The safety catch although concealed within the hood can beeffectively controlled by the latch lever so that when it is desired thepivoted safety catch member can be moved to or held in its lid-releasingposition. Notwithstanding the fact that the latch lever moves in oneplane and the safety catch member in a plane perpendicular thereto, anefiective control of the safety catch movement is provided by aconstruction such as described.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is by way of exampleonly and that various modifications and changes in the details may bemade within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of analligator hood lid and carrying a rigid depending post-like keeper witha latching head at the lower end, said plate having at one side adepending apertured marginal flange, a lower plate attachable to thefixed part of the hood below the upper plate and having an aperture forthe latching head of the keeper which aperture is elongated in adirection lengthwise of the hood, a compression spring between saidplates tending to lift the lid from the closed position, a latch leverpivoted to the lower plate adjacent the forward edge of said plate andextending rearwardly at one side of said aperture and having a lugprojectable into said aperture to engage said latching head for latchingthe lid, said lever being provided at one side of the lower plate with alateral extension which extension is provided with a forwardly disposedmanipulating fingerpiece adapted to be located in a grille slot at thefront end of the hood, a spring normally holding said latch lever inlatching position, a spring-biased safety catch lever having a lower endpivoted on said lower plate to swing in a vertical plane directedtransversely of the hood, said catch lever having a hook at the upperend adapted to cooperate with said marginal apertured flange of saidupper plate in latching the lid in the safety position and in movingsaid catch lever laterally upon closing of the lid, said catch leverhaving an upwardly extending portion adjacent and extending across saidlateral extension of said latching lever and said upwardly extendingportion and said lateral extension being provided with interengagingmeans whereby on releasing movement of said latch lever said catch leveris swung laterally to disengage the apertured flange of said upper plateso as to release the lid, said depending apertured marginal flange beinginclined downwardly and outwardly from the upper plate and having alower camming edge portion below an aperture in said flange into whichin safety position said hook projects, said camming edge portion onclosing of the lid from the fully opened position being engageablesequentially with a surface on the upper part of said hook and a secondsurface on the body of said catch lever to swing said lever laterallyaway from said flange.

2. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of analligator hood lid and carrying a rigid depending post-like keeper, saidplate having at one side of the hood a depending apertured flangeinclined downwardly and outwardly toward the side of the hood, a lowerplate attachable to the fixed part of the hood below the upper plate andhaving a keeper aperture elongated lengthwise of the hood in which thekeeper can be latched in any of a number of longitudinal positions, acompression spring between said plates tending to lift said lid from theclosed position, a latch lever pivoted to the lower plate and having alatching part at one side of said aperture adapted to engage the keeperto latch the lid, said latch lever also having an extension disposed ina laterally extending position with respect to said aperture whichextension is provided with a forwardly extending fingerpiece adapted tobe located in a slot of a hood grille, a safety-catch lever having alower end pivoted to said lower plate and provided at the upper end witha hook adapted toengage and disengage the apertured flange of the upperplate, said safety-catch lever being provided between its ends with acamming means engageable by a part of said latch lever for releasingsaid catch lever from safety position, said apertured flange having alower camming edge portion sequentially engageable with a surface on theupper part of said hook and a second surface on the body of saidsafety-catch lever for the purpose of shifting the book of said safetylever laterally to an upwardly and outwardly inclined position with thehook somewhat above said aperture when and as the lid is closed, and atorsion spring acting on the lower end portion of said safety catchlever to bias it toward said depending apertured flange so that when thekeeper is released said hook will enter said aperture as the lid risesto thereby inhibit full opening of the hood.

3. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of analligator hood lid and carrying a depending post-like keeper, said platehaving at one side a depending flange sloped downwardly toward the sideof the hood and having an aperture therein, a lower plate attachable tothe fixed part of the hood below the keeper plate and having a keeperaperture elongated lengthwise of the hood in which the keeper can belatched in any of a number of longitudinal positions, a latch leverpivoted to the lower plate at the forward part thereof and having alatching lug at one side of said aperture adapted to engage the keeperto latch the lid, said latch lever also having a forward extension atone side of said aperture which extension is provided with a forwardlyextending fingerpiece adapted to be located in a slot in a hood grille,and a safety catch lever pivoted to a flange depending from said lowerplate at one side of the plate so that said safety catch lever can swingin a vertical plane disposed transversely of the hood, the pivot forsaid safety catch lever being located at the lower end of said lever andsaid safety catch lever having at the upper end thereof a hook adaptedto extend into said aperture in said apertured flange, said safety catchlever being spring-biased laterally in the direction of the saidapertured flange, said safety catch lever being provided in a locationabove the lower plate with a camming surface which in the latchedposition of the latch is engaged by the lower end of said aperturedflange to energize the spring of said safety catch lever, said hook ofsaid safety catch lever having a downwardly sloping portion engageableby the lower end of said apertured flange when the fully opened hood lidis moved in a closing direction, and said safety catch lever beingfurther provided in a location between its pivot and said first cammingmeans with a portion engageable by the proximate portion of said latchlever whereby on forward pull of the latch lever fingerpiece said safetycatch lever is swung laterally to a hood releasing position. I

4. In a hood latch, an upper plate attachable to the forward end of analligator hood lid and carrying a depending postlike keeper, a lowerplate attachable to the fixed part of the hood below the keeper plateand having a keeper aperture elongated lengthwise of the hood, a latchlever pivoted to the lower plate forwardly of said aperture and slightlyto one side of the longitudinal axis of said aperture and having alatching lug at one side of said aperture to engage the keeper forlatching the lid, said latch lever also having a lateral extensionthrough a slot in a side flange extending downwardly from said lowerplate, which extension is continued forwardly laterally of said plate ata lower level and provided at the forward end with a finger pieceadapted to be located in a slot of a hood grille, a

, safety catch lever having a hooked upoer ehd and a Eeih'g providedbetween its-ends with a body portion q nti y th w Pa t f said pe u sd.fiap c to fswing "the iu pe; end of "said 'Iever 1te1jally 1 5151 theilppe'r' latewhenth'e lid 'is lowered ,fics'm itfk fiill'y raisedposition. I

I "Reg r el'ijces 'ci ted in thefile o'fth ie patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 193,132 :Hynes :Ma r. 12, 1940 2,197,648 xMfilShfiiDlCl Apr; 16,1940 2,227,144 Kranse Dec. 31, :1940 2,622,907 Hynes Dec. "23, 19522,646,299 :Kramer Iu1y21, 1953 r FOREIGN PATENTS r Greait Btitaih June,:24,

